"Offers over" and offering under?

[ElGraham]

We have found a house we really love. Been looking for around 6 months. Our budget is £700k but as first time buyers would really love something at £625k or below due to Stamp Duty relief.

The house we have fallen in love with is 'Offers over £700k'. We have also noticed that it went on the market 8 months ago at £625k and didn't sell for whatever reason. We want to offer £625k plus a bit for fixtures but unsure if that is too cheeky. Other houses have gone for around the same but with more bedrooms, so we do think its over-priced. What do people think?

What do you mean your budget is 700k but you want to spend below £625 due to stamp duty relief?

You don't have to pay stamp duty, so surely it's irrelevant? Your budget is £700k then?

As for the house, it's only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. If it's only worth £625 then you may well get it, but if someone comes along willing to pay more, you won't.

It's not worth £625 just because that's the amount you want to spend.

Offer what you can afford and want to pay

Edited to add: sorry, I see now about the stamp duty threshold.

Thing is, a lot of people will be in the same boat.

So the house will either be worth over it or it won't be.

Offer 625k if you can commit to a quick sale? Market has been falling since January as mortgage rates are back to the highs and Labour likely to introduce CGT on primary residence at Autumn budget, leading to higher inventory of houses for sale

So this is false?

Sir Keir Starmer has officially ruled out the possibility that Capital Gains Tax (CGT) will be implemented on the sale of people’s homes, should Labour get into power in the upcoming General Election. Sir Keir Starmer was quoted as saying that he could “absolutely” guarantee that it would not happen, sparking a flurry of discussion in the lead up to the election.

And this?

Keir Starmer has ruled out imposing capital gains tax on the sale of people’s homes and said it was “desperate” tactics from the Tories to suggest that he would.

The Labour leader said he could “absolutely” guarantee that would not happen.

If it didn't sell 8 months ago for 75k less then I'm wondering why the hell they think it will sell now at a higher price.. can you see the old listing? Have they done a load of work to it? I wouldn't pay 700k for something that wouldn't shift at a lower price. I'd be concerned that a mortgage company would value it less too. Offer 625k if you think it's worth that.

I'd have a chat with the estate agent and see how you can structure a deal.

So it was on the market at 625k 8 months ago. It didn't sell, the market hasn't risen (in most places and has fallen in some) and they are now asking over 10% more? If it didn't sell at 625k recently, it's very unlikely to sell for offer over 700k now! It sounds as if the asking price is cheeky rather than your offer. Offer whatever you are happy to pay but they may well decline as the sellers sound unrealistic/ greedy.
You would obviously need to pay stamp duty for this house though as you are well over the threshold.

Why do you think Chancellor saying that public finances are worse than they anticipated? CGT will be raised at next budget and including primary residence only way to make meaningful impact.

Not sure about this.
a) Autumn is very soon
b) It would be very unpopular
c) Other better ways to raise £££. Surely CGT overnight would lower inventory if anything. Increasing taxes of ownership on more expensive properties would be better.

Agree but politics is seldom smart... They will likely set a threshold for CGT on primary residence at 500k to make it more popular.

Agree with the politics is seldom smart comment.
I think it would cause the market to seize up even more and lead to less revenue. Better to have a land value tax or tax proportional to value of the property to encourage downsizing/ better overall use of property (imo).

I would also talk to the agent to understand why there's been a price difference. Is it possible you're mistaken?

Have you viewed the house yet? Did you not ask then?

A house is worth what people are willing to spend. I suspect they'll want to test the market first and won't accept £625k within the first few months of being on the market, in which time interest rate could start to decline and the market pick up.

If you want to pay under £625, I'd be looking at houses up to £650 really.

It takes a long time to earn £75,000 so absolutely fine to offer what you think it’s worth with less bedrooms than similar locally, especially if previously cheaper eight months ago. Property here is very hard to shift so they might be tempted if you are organised FTBs ready to move.

Offer what you like. This whole idea of "too cheeky" is very odd. They might say no, they probably will. But if you can't afford more than your offer then you've not lost anything in trying.

Ask the EA why the price has risen so much in just a few months- there may be a logical explanation.

In any case you can’t offer more than you can afford so it’s worth a punt but they are unlikely to accept around 625k on a property they are advertising as OIEO 700k.

I imagine they would be more likely to consider an offer of around 650k but if you can’t afford that then just offer what you can afford/consider the house to be worth.

Hi everyone,

thank you for your helpful answers! We saw the house again and have been speaking with the estate agents. Apparently it’s been had an offer accepted for 8 months which has fallen through. It went on at £625k but there was a bidding war and the offer accepted was ‘apparently’ higher than £700k by someone who was desperate for the house. Sadly the offer fell through and now it’s back on at a higher price.

makes sense. Husband and I will discuss and offer what we think the house is worth and what we can afford.

Estate agents lie

Only offer what you really believe it's worth to you.

Make an informal offer by telling the agent you like the place, but you would only be prepared to pay around X for it.

They can then either chose to put that to the buyer and convince them to lower their expectations and come to a deal or not (sometimes agents are told by sellers to outright reject offers below a certain price).

How much the agent will bother will probably depend on how much other interest in currently being shown in the place.

No harm in offering 625k or possibly 650k and say you want to progress quickly. Of course the estate agent wants you to offer more because they'll get more commission.
They accepted a lower offer before and unfortunately even though there was a bidding war they have no offers now so may be willing to accept a lower offer.

It depends how much they want to sell it. Some peoples houses are continuously on the market, they get plenty of offers but are totally unrealistic about what their house is really worth.

No harm in offering 625k and seeing what they say. Don't be pressurised into offering more. The story the agents have told you may or may not be true but that is not a reason for you to offer more than you think the house is worth and can comfortably afford. I think the market will fall more in the second half of this year and 2025 so time will tell if these sellers get a better offer than 625k. It's by no means certain.

If I was a vendor and I'd had a bidding war that had pushed my house over 700k, I definitely wouldn't be accepting an offer of 625. Depends how true what the EA has said is, of course, but in that situation I'd feel very comfortable to hold out for a higher price.

Interestingly enough, the estate agent was quite keen for us to put in the offer at £625k and seemed quite positive about it. We did and are waiting to hear back!

There are delusional buyers as well as delusional sellers. Maybe the previous buyer offered £700K+ but their lender said 'you're having a laugh, it's worth £600K'.